UND
PROF CHALLENGES DRINKING-CRASH LINK
ALCOHOL CAN FORM IN BLOOD AFTER DEATH

A UND instructor and former
flight surgeon, Dr. Warren Jensen, of UND's Center for Aerospace Sciences said
it's premature to conclude that a former UND student pilot had been drinking
before the jetliner he controlled crashed killing 264 people in Japan on 26
April 1994.

Jensen said alcohol found in
the body of China Air Pilot Chuang Meng-Rong could have formed after the crash."It is well documented
that as a body decomposes, it can produce alcohol that is measurable in
the blood," Jensen said. Jensen also said key factors remain unknown,
including how long after death the blood sample was taken, the temperature and
condition of the body and what bacteria were present. To figure out whether the
alcohol was formed after death, researchers analyze other body tissues and
fluids. "If alcohol has been ingested it would be present in those samples
too," Jensen said.

Asahi, Japan's national
newspaper, reported Friday that Chuang's blood-alcohol level was above the .05
percent threshold for intoxication under Japan's driving laws. U.S. aviation
standards put the limit at .04 percent and prohibit pilots from drinking alcohol
within eight hours of flying. China Airlines prohibits pilots and co-pilots from
drinking within 24 hours of their flight.

Cockpit recordings showed
Chuang was at the controls of the China Airlines flight that crashed April 26 in
Japan during a failed landing attempt. Chuang was co-pilot.

Tim Burke, CAS director of
communications, said there has been little national press attention to the link
between the pilot and UND. He was a
very good student, both in the classroom and in the airplane. He passed all his
certification tests on the first try. There can be no good that comes from an
accident in which 264 people die, Burk said. "When your name is associated
with an accident, that immediately causes problems for you." Chuang
graduated second in his class of 19 from UND's Spectrum program in November
1992.

Grand
Forks Herald, May 7, 1994

Note:
We are currently in the process of obtaining the final report on the fatal crash
of this China Airlines aircraft pilot by a UND - trained pilot.